Train travel from Amsterdam to Bruges, Belgium: transfer in Antwerp or transfer in Brussels?

Antwerp is a a bit closer to Amsterdam than Brussels is, so in theory a connection in Antwerp should make it a shorter journey by an hour or so. But with luggage a connection in Brussels will be a bit easier to manage as the Antwerp train station has tracks on different levels, Brussels everything is on one level. At both stations you'll have to do a bit of walking though. Both will be equally english-friendly. The fare via Antwerp should be cheaper as less miles are involved:

http://www.nshispeed.nl/en

You will have no language issues in either city. May I ask where you got those prices and are they per person or total. I hope it is not Raileurope.

Yes, it was RailEurope, online, but I have not purchased them yet. They were per person and in economy. It seemed expensive to me but I have no point of reference. First class was $150 per person and I didn't know if that was worth the difference. Also I don't know if those prices are reasonable or not.

Use the site that Michael linked to and check prices there. I found some tickets (1 stop through Brussels) for around 50€ per person on a random day in mid April, see what is available on your day. RailEurope prices are typically inflated.

Check your price here: https://www.thalys.com/be/en/
Use Amsterdam Centraal as the start, and "all other Belgian stations" as end point. After hitting the search button, you'll be prompted to enter you Belgian destination of Bruges as end point.
I see a fare of 104 euro 2nd class for 2, and 118 euro 1st class for 2, April 17 at 7:18 am, as an example, change at Brussels Midi. It is the quickest way, as the change in Antwerp is 48 minutes, while in Brussels it is 18 minutes, (quite comfortable time allowance).

We make that change in Antwerp a couple of years ago. Antwerp is a beautiful station. While it does have three levels of tracks we found it easy to get around. RailEurope rarely has cheap tickets. Go directly to the national site.

Take a Thalys to Antwerpen and then a regional train to Brugge.

No problems for changing trains in Anterwerpen Centraal

Ok, go ahead and change at Antwerp, it will take you an extra 20 minutes to get to Bruges, but maybe you'll see this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EYAUazLI9k

Thank you Sam & others for reply.

I did go ahead and use Thayls site for the reservations and I chose Any Belgium stations (Bruges) as arrival destination. However, my tickets only show me going to Brussels even though my itinerary shows me going all the way to Bruges. This has me more than a little concerned. I do recall reading that with the "any Belgium" destination I can take any train...but it seems that my final destination should be noted somewhere on my ticket! Any comments?

Perhaps I jumped to conclusions. Here's what my ticket says:

Departure - Amsterdam C.
Arrival - Bruxelles-Midi/Br
Then in small print below my seat assignment it says:
+Any Belgian Station

What do you think?

I don't have personal experience since they started charging extra for A.B.S., but I believe it looks like that because a seat reservation for a specific train is essential for the international trip, but the intra-Belgium trip is likely on an unreserved, frequent train. If the small print is clearly legible, I wouldn't worry. If you care whether you qualify for First Class on the second train (where it might not be available to anyone... ), that's a different question. I imagine that Senior/Comfort Class is not, in fact, that level of travel.

Nancy,

Don't worry - your tickets are correct. We did the exact same route last November and I just looked at what our tickets said and they read the same as yours. Departure: Amsterdam C Arrival Bruxelles-Midi/BR and then below the seat assignment it says "+ Any Belgian Station". No where on the ticket does it mention Bruges. As long as you have that Any Belgian Station, you're good to go!

We loved both Amsterdam and Bruges - I'm sure you will too! If you're planning on going to the Anne Frank house, it's a good idea to get your tickets online before you go so you can avoid the lines to buy tickets, which can be quite long. Also, we really enjoyed the Dutch Resistance museum and highly recommend it.

Have a great trip!!

Thank you everyone. I am breathing easier. Now for the trip from Bruges to Bayeux...looks like I have to go through Paris. I also need to get to Brussels first, I imagine on a local train; then book the Brussels to Paris to Bayeux legs.

Nancy, I respectfully urge you to start a new thread for your next set of questions. The heading for this thread is very inappropriate for Bayeux, and there is a lot for you to read on past Bayeux discussions here. It's one of the most often discussed destinations. That is, have a look at the France forum.

I would also say that you are traveling to two slightly out of the way cities by way of major cities. Are you certain that you want to do this extra travel time to touch those bases? Is there any hope you'll take another trip to Europe in the future, so you could do more in one region now? For example, you're apparently not visiting Brussels, Antwerp, or Gent, but training through all three. And going near The Hague, Leiden, and Rotterdam, probably without visiting them. Are you going to spend more than one 10-hour day on (no doubt) the D-Day beaches? You are covering a lot of ground.

Yes, I am going over to the France Forum. We will be in this region for 4 weeks so will have plenty of time to visit all the major cities, etc. These questions were regarding our travel days when we'll be going from one area to the next. Thanks for the concern. BTW we'll be in Normandy for 3 days and northern France for about 10 days.